Don Touhig: In his Written Ministerial Statement of 7 December 2004, my predecessor announced our intention to appoint the first chaplains to the Armed Forces from the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faith communities. These are the faiths, other than Christian, that are most represented in the Armed Forces.
	Following a national recruitment campaign earlier this year, I am delighted to announce that chaplains from the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faith communities have now been appointed. These chaplains will be employed as Ministry of Defence civil servants, but will be fully integrated members of the existing Service Chaplaincy organisation.
	I am confident that their presence will contribute enormously to encouraging and promoting religious understanding and acceptance within the Armed Forces, and that they will provide comfort, support and valuable advice to individual service personnel who share their faith.
	Details of the new chaplains will be released both internally and externally once they take up their fall formal duties following completion of a short period of induction and familiarisation training, during which they will learn about the Armed Forces and the work of the Service Chaplaincy organisation.